At least 10 die in Maine crashes over less than a week

STATEWIDE (WGME) - At least 10 people are dead after more than a dozen motor vehicle crashes in less than a week in Maine.

Among the most recent fatalities occurred Monday on Route 113 in Baldwin, where investigators said a motorcyclist following a turning vehicle too closely hit the back of that car, sending the victim into the path of an oncoming truck.

Meanwhile, four people -- including a 7-year-old boy -- were killed in one of the deadliest crashes in Maine in years when a Honda Civic and an SUV collided.

Berwick resident Jamie Lahue was a witness to that crash, which occurred in Berwick.

"Heard the loudest crash boom I've ever heard in my entire life. It shook the building," said Lahue, who was upstairs in the daycare her family owns when two vehicles crashed right out in front.

"I looked out the window and I saw, literally, a car split in two pieces," she said. She called 911 and told them what had happened and where. With the 911 operator on the line, she ran to see if she could help.

Police say a passenger in the sedan, Kayla Scott, survived but that driver Robert Howard, Kevin Clark and Clark's 7-year-old son, Davin Clark, died at the scene. The child was a first grader at North Berwick Elementary School.

"I only saw two deceased at the time," Lahue said. "I couldn't see the child."

Clark's principal issued a statement that said, "One of our first grade students, Davin clark, passed away this weekend in a car accident. We have grief counselors on hand at North Berwick Elementary School."

Principal Mike Archambault says he and grief counselors went to each class this morning to share the sad news. At the same time, he says he and staff are trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for the children during this traumatic event."

Police said a family of four was in in the SUV. A 17-year-old girl and her parents survived but police said the teen's grandmother, Barbara Allen of Wells, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police said that Robert Howard, the driver of the Honda that split in two, caused the crash.

"It was operator error. They were passing on a solid yellow line. Came back, overcorrected, and went in front of the SUV," Berwick police Capt. Jerry Locke said.